FEMA finalizes request for up to 10,000 service members to support Covid-19 vaccinations

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Members of the service could be deployed to up to 100 sites across the country to support the administration of the fire, according to the spokesperson. The Department of Defense is anticipating a request from FEMA to assist with the vaccination, a defense official told CNN on Wednesday.

The news comes after CNN announced earlier this week that the Defense Department is considering options to help President Joe Biden vaccinate up to 1.5 million people a day in just a few months. An official previously said up to 10,000 troops could be deployed as part of the effort.

As of Tuesday, FEMA had committed more than $ 1.2 billion to states, territories and tribes for 100% federal cost-sharing Covid-19 vaccine-related expenses, the agency said Wednesday in A press release.

This number is expected to increase in the coming days, the statement said. FEMA will reimburse local governments for using their national guard to respond to Covid-19 and other assistance, in accordance with Biden’s memorandum last Thursday.

Biden has upped the bet on his already ambitious vaccine expectations. When he said on Monday he expected the United States to soon be able to immunize 1.5 million people a day – raising the bar by about 500,000 vaccinations above the target of 1 million a day in his first 100 days in office – he said the United States could surpass that initial target in about three weeks.
But the administration has been open to the fact that the federal vaccination effort faces several obstacles. Speaking to CNN’s Erin Burnett, Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain noted on Tuesday that while it is important to procure additional vaccines, the issues go beyond such as ensuring that there has enough vaccination centers and people to administer the vaccines.

“It’s not just vaccines, too,” Klain said. “In some states, Erin, the problem is the lack of people to do the vaccines. We are working to increase this capacity. In some states there are not enough places. We announced the creation of federal vaccination centers. we need more vaccines, we need more vaccines, we need more places to get vaccinations. We are working on these three things. “

CNN’s Jason Hoffman contributed to this report.

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